


The Strange New Fire Ferrets

by Mars_Bars



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Avatar Universe, F/F, F/M, Firebending Chloe, Firebending Victoria, Gen, I guess max still technically has powers, LiS Characters in Avatar universe, Post Season 4, Pro-Bending, Republic City, waterbending max, with some changes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-22
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:41:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27142597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mars_Bars/pseuds/Mars_Bars
Summary: Life is Strange / Legend of Korra CrossoverMax’s ribs hurt too much, she couldn’t waterbend if she couldn’t breathe, but she finally saw past the face shield the firebender wore, and she recognized those eyes. She knew who those belonged to, even if she hadn’t seen them in years…“Chloe?!”
Relationships: Bolin/Opal (Avatar), Korra/Asami Sato, Maxine "Max" Caulfield/Chloe Price, Victoria Chase/Kate Marsh
Comments: 3
Kudos: 14





	1. The Strange New New New New Fire Ferrets

**Author's Note:**

> So, this all takes place Post-Season 4 with a few alterations. I was going to make this Post-Turf Wars comic, but I don’t want to leave anyone out who hasn’t read that so I promise they’ll be no spoilers for that or any of the comics going forward.  
> Main Things That Are Different: Bolin returns to the Fire Ferrets pro bending team, like he was shown at the beginning of season 2. And let's just say that though the battle with Kuvira happened and the spirit portal was opened, either the whole city wasn’t destroyed or Republic Cityers are like New Yorkers and just move on with their lives like nothing really happened after rebuilding for a few months.  
> Enjoy!

Max was questioning, not for the first time, why she chose a career path that involved her getting hit in the head with stones the size of her chest. Her ears had just stopped ringing when she was swept off her feet by an old friend.

She didn’t have much time to answer as a ring of scorching heat followed by a blade of water contacted her ankles, threatening to send her heels over head, but luckily she was on balance enough to roll forward and begin her motion to counter back. Bending the same liquid that just attacked her, she let its energy flow and curve perfectly back around into a jet she launched at the opposing team’s waterbender, who dodged it just by stepping out of its path, and watched it fly bye like an arrow sailing clear past.

Max was so in awe of how eloquent her opponent’s movements were that she didn’t notice the stone disk flying into her side until she felt a rib crack and her body launch backward, tumbling beyond the last water troth and into zone three.

The crowd cheers as the buzzer sounds. “And that beautiful combo from the Mantis Wolves knocks the Fire Ferrets all the way back into zone three! They are looking devious! Dangerous! Devastatingly Destructive! And are looking for a clean sweep up two rounds to none in this, the final match in the regular season before the Republic City Pro-Bending Tournament!” The obnoxiously excited radio announcer’s voice could still somehow be heard over the roar of the crowd as their opponents stepped forward, their victory looking all but guaranteed at this point.

“Come on, Maxine! Stop just lying there like a beached whale-walrus and help me, you moron!” Victoria screamed, still finding time to insult Max even though they were backed up to the edge of the pro-bending platform, with nothing but a freefall to the drink behind them. Max bit her tongue to stop from responding back as she got to her feet, clutching her side.

Bolin, team captain and ever the optimist shouted words of encouragement over the noise “Come on, you guys! We can still do this, I believe in it, just stick together and keep with it!”

The three of them collectively officially made up The Future Industries Fire Ferrets, the second best team in Republic City’s Pro-Bending league this year, though unofficially they were the ‘New New New New Fire Ferrets’, a common nickname among fans that referenced how many times Bolin had to reboot the team since Avatar Korra had left it after their first (and so far only) championship season. Even though she was the team’s designated waterbender, Max definitely did not feel like she was a suitable replacement for someone as powerful or technical as the Avatar. Heck, she barely even felt like she was good enough to be on the team, but every time she had voiced her worries, Bolin had been there to complement her and proclaim just how much of a natural she was. Between him and Kate, she was glad she had some really supportive friends.

It wasn’t like their team was lacking star power though. Victoria Chase, the frustrating but not quite hotheaded firebender was clearly the face of the team, with so many of the arena’s advertisements showing off her deadly combo of flawless, figure-like beauty and fierce fighting style. The company that ran the arena originally planned to use her likeness without any stipend to her, but that plan had run the ire of Victoria’s parents, a pair of wealthy art collectors, who had made sure that Victoria was compensated *generously* in exchange for “declining to press forward with their reasonable and fully justified lawsuit”. Victoria had been continuing to build her celebrity status through the Fire Ferret’s winning record, and when she wasn’t competing or training, she could be found at fancy downtown restaurants or red carpet Mover premieres with some high society boytoy date. Though the identity of her dates seemed to change quite frequently and she never quite looked pleased with them in any of the photos that got put out. Then again, Victoria only seemed truly pleased with herself after a pro-bending victory or after putting Max down with her signature sharp wit.

The argument could be made that the loss so far tonight wasn’t too terrible for their image, as they were losing to the number one team in the league, but it wasn’t even close, and they hadn’t had their butts kicked like this the whole season. The Mantis Wolves were making a show out of outdoing Max and her team. Their waterbender was magnificent, seeing or sensing every attack that came her way and using her acrobatic moves to dodge, counter, and attack without seemingly breaking a sweat. Their earthbender was a different story; he was wild and emotional, strong and unpredictable. He attacked angrily and at random, but his strength and unpredictability more than made up for it. He swore and shouted whenever he got hit, and his profanities had already earned him a yellow fan from the official. The firebender also felt angry from their movements, but they were different… and strangely familiar to Max…

Max couldn’t even make out their gender under their mask but she had caught a glimpse of their eyes a few times during the match, and they were filled with an intense but focused rage. Their blasts of flame came fast and were near impossible to fully avoid, and the heat off of them was incredible, threatening to boil the sweat right off her skin. They were also a tank, taking tons of hits but never wavering or even flinching. Max watched as they cracked their knuckles and adopted their fighting pose in zone two.

The buzzer sounded again and before she could blink, two waves of flame were fired on either side of her, sending both Bolin and Victoria to the drink with shocked shouts. Hearing them splash below and the roar of the crowd grow even louder, Max turned back to face her adversaries. Three on One. This wasn’t going to end well.

The firebender smirked and taunted Max, raising her hand and motioning for her to “come get some.” Max took a deep breath, and tried to feel her connection to the water.

Their firebender jabbed forward, sending a spear past Max’s ear as she rolled out of harm’s way. No sooner did she regain her footing was there another blast of fire heading towards her. Another roll sent her to the ropes, giving her enough balance to bend a jet that missed its target by mile. The force from the heat of the flames nearly lifts her over the ropes, and she's forced to retreat to avoid her gloves melting onto her skin. The firebender gives a sarcastic chuckle, looking down at Max like prey caught struggling in a trap. They square up for a final blow, and Max instinctively raises up a wall of water to protect herself.

The wave hits the firebender like an uppercut, stripping the helmet from their head and tossing it to the side as they are finally sent to the ground, only barely staying inside the zone boundary. Their teammates step forward, ready to attack, but the firebender puts up a hand to stop them. They want to deal with Max themselves.

As they stand up, their blue hair that couldn’t be natural is soaked, causing it to stick to their head and finally giving Max a clear view of her eyes. A clear view of those blue eyes was all Max needed to know who stood in front of her, even if she hadn’t seen them in years…

“Chloe?!”

The firebender stopped, confusion showed across their blue eyes, before a look of recognition flashed across her face. It was her. It was Chloe. And she knew Max, recognized Max.

Max breathed out heavily, trying to think of something to say, she was gobstruck, and definitely out of breath. “I…I—“

Max didn’t get a chance to finish. The next instant, pure determination and rage seemed to return to Chloe, and she blasted a jet of pure flame into Max’s gut, throwing her backwards like a ragdoll and off the stage. Max fumbled through the hair before finally hitting the water below, face first and _hard_.

~*~

The crowd noise was deafening, even underwater, and as soon as she surfaced it was even louder. It took a moment for Max to realize the sound was being amplified by the ringing in her head. She grasped at her temple, expecting to feel some kind of welt there.

The announcer declared the victors, “And the knock-out blow from the star of the Prescott Foundation Mantis Wolves, CHLLLLLOOOOOO-EEEE!” Chants started in the crowd as she swam her way over to the platform where Bolin was reaching out towards her and where Victoria was steaming.

Max knew one thing; she had some talking to do with an old friend. And if the match was anything to go by, it was not going to an easy talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End Note: I’m keeping with Avatar Tradition in not giving people last names (Korra, Bolin, Katara, Maxine, Chloe) unless, of course, they’re rich (Asami Sato, Toph Beifong, Victoria Chase & Nathan Prescott). Apparently you have to buy last names or something.
> 
> Anyway, This’ll be about a 10 or 12 chapter fic. Hope y’all enjoy and leave comments and feedback!


	2. Sticky Rice Balls

When the Fire Ferrets entered their locker room, Victoria immediately threw her helmet to the ground. “What the hell was that, Maxine?! I get that your whole waterbending deal is to ‘take it easy and go with the flow’ like the hippy you are, but you didn’t do a damn thing to help me out there!” The blonde shoved Max back towards the lockers, the air around her sizzling with heat from her rage. "You're supposed to protect me so I don't get hit, but what, are you just too distracted to pull your own weight?" She steamed at Max, a bull ready to charge. This wasn't the usual snarky and sassy Victoria, this Vic was ready to claw.

Before Max could studded out an apology, Bolin rushed forward to try to get between the two of them. “Whoa whoa whoa, just calm down a bit everyone. It’s cool, we’re cool, come’on, cool, right?” He placed himself in the middle of the girls, but made extra sure not to actually physically touch Victoria. She really didn’t like it when he did that. “Let’s just take a deep breath, and let it out." He raised his arms to his chest and mimed releasing the tension like a self-help guru. 

“It’s gonna be alright! We’re still guaranteed to be in the tournament, and even better, we’re still number two in the standings! So this loss doesn’t really matter and we can just forget about it. I mean, I know I will, just as soon as I get some food in me. So why don’t we calm down and just go get a bite and focus on training and not worrying!” Bolin rubbed his stomach and looked to make a moan, before Victoria shoved him aside.

“While this may not mean that much for _ you _ , embarrassments like this ruin my image. We didn’t win a single round out there, we barely even had any offense. Losses like these could ruin my career.” Victoria spat with anger, and turned to face Max alone. “So I need you to pick up your slack, not freeze up like you did tonight. Especially in the tournament, I need you to do your job and be our defense so I can do my job and bash these losers. I need you to NOT fuck it up, Maxine.”

With that, she grabbed her bag, threw her gear into it, and strode out the door, shutting it behind her with a slam.

Max sighed, “It’s Max, never Maxine,” she said, more to herself than anymore else. As she sits down on the bench with a plop, she is painfully reminded of ribs that might still be cracked, instantly grabbing at her side with a cough.

Bolin rushed to her at the sound of her pain, “You alright, Max? You need a trainer or anything?” Bolin is like a puppy, adorably trying his best to take care of everyone and rarely getting discouraged. “You took a lot of good slams out there, I can go get one if you like.”

Max waves him off, ginning through the pain, “Nah, it’s alright. Nothing I can’t heal myself later.” Her fingers press along her side just to see how durable it is or how bad the damage could be. Nothing too substantial came up, fortunately. “Just wanna make sure it’s set first.”

“Good to hear,”

Max found herself staring at the closed up door, wondering where exactly she started going wrong tonight. Yeah, she got distracted at the very end, but that was definitely not a normal circumstance, and she thought she was doing at least okay up until then. Victoria’s words really stung though. They pretty much always did. She had a way of getting under Max’s skin and attacking.

Bolin must have caught her staring, because he smiled and patted her on the shoulder. “Hey, don’t worry, she’s not in charge, I am! And we’ll be okay, promise. Yeah, it would be nice to win the tournament, but don’t freak yourself out about it. You’ve trained really hard this year and you’ve done amazing, so don’t stress!”

Little squeaks came from Bolin’s bag that drew their attention, and a second later Pabu’s head poked up from the opening, seemingly wearing one of Bolin’s dirty socks as a hat. The little guy must have been taking a nap in there, which wasn’t uncommon.

The actual fire ferret shook off his cap and ran over to his owner, sneaking in his pant leg and causing Bolin to giggle and cry out as Pabu scaled his body, before coming out of his shirt collar and resting himself on the human’s shoulder. “Pabu, you little troublemaker, you got your beauty sleep?” Bolin picked him up and cuddled him a bit against his face, grinning the whole time.

“All right, enough enough,” Bolin gave the ferret one last pat before putting him back on his shoulder, where he promptly laid down to rest yet again. Bolin looked back at Max. “Come’on, Max, let’s take the rest of the night off and go down to Ze-Ze’s and get some food and just not think about the fight. I’ll buy you some of those sticky rice balls I know you love.”

Max just grinned back, but shook her head, grabbing her bag from the wall to start packing. “Thanks, Bolin, and I’m really sorry but I can’t. I… I have to try to talk with someone.” She wrung out her soaking wet jersey in an attempt to keep the rest of her stuff dry.

“Oh? And who would that be if I may ask?” Bolin raised an eyebrow.

Max sighed, “You know Chloe?”

“Uh, yeah, she’s only like the best firebender in the league.” Bolin caught himself, turned around and proclaimed to the door loudly, “I mean, behind Victoria, of course! Victoria is 100 percent the best without any doubt!” He wiped his brow and turned back to Max, shaking “You don’t think she heard me, right? I don’t want her to burn my eyebrows off again.”

The brunette giggled and shook her head, “Nah, she doesn’t stick around for a second after we’re done. She’s probably already in a cab to the fanciest restaurant in the city, with some poor date in tow.”

Bolin took a sigh of relief, “Yeah, that’s fair.” He sat down on the bench across from her, Pabu looking just a little annoyed that he wouldn’t stay still so he could sleep. “So what about Chloe? What’s going on there?”

“It’s a long story,” Max said, “but basically, her and I were best friends for years in the Southern Water Tribe. We lived right next to each other and were always causing trouble for our parents together. One day though, my father got a job offer managing the docks here in town, and we had to move, along with my mom, halfway across the world to Republic City. I barely had a chance to say goodbye to Chloe before we left, and I never got the chance to go back and see her again.” She sniffled, remembering how she felt. 

“That was five years ago, and I haven’t heard a word from her… and I guess I didn’t try too hard to reach her either. But now she’s here, playing for the Mantis Wolves of all teams, out of the blue — And her hair!” Max exclaimed, “Her hair was completely blue under her hood! That’s why I didn’t recognize her at first.” She sat back down on the bench, her mouth open a little in bewilderment. “I mean, part of the reason I guess.”

Bolin leaned forward, “What do you mean? What else is there?”

She took a breath. “Chloe was never a bender, as a kid at least, and her parents weren’t benders at her, and definitely not firebenders.” She took off her fighting shoes, putting them into her bag with the rest of her gear. “I remember William, her dad, telling me their family was one of the few who had lived on the south pole since before the Hundred Year War. So how could she possibly be a firebender?” 

Bolin just shook his head, “I don’t know, but I have seen weirder things happen. Maybe it has something to do with the spirit portals being open? But that only made more airbenders, not firebenders, right?”

Max just sat there for a second, looking for some explanation. Pabu, sensing her distress, hopped off Bolin’s shoulder and ran across the floor to Max, getting up onto the bench and rubbing up against her for support. Max absentmindedly gave him some scritches in return.

“Look, Max,” Bolin started, understanding in his tone, “I understand and think you should definitely go talk to her, but just be careful please. She’s on the Prescott’s team, and they are a strong and powerful family. Nathan, the earthbender we faced off against, is that family’s youngest and he’s more than a dangerous handful himself.” He put a hand on Max’s shoulder, “They come from old Earth Kingdom royalty, and don’t take kindly to anyone ‘not of status’ even talking to them. Back when we were on the streets, Mako and I would fight some of the guys they hired cause they were always trying to claim new land and businesses to ‘develop.’”

Max nodded, “Oof, okay. I’ll keep that in mind. I don’t really want to get involved with them, I just want to talk to Chloe”

“Just be careful, Max, they are shady and you don’t wanna do anything to get on their bad side.”

“I promise I will, Bolin.” Max zipped up her bag, gave Pabu one last pet, and side-hugged the earthbender. “Thanks for looking out for me, you’re the best.” Max headed out the door.

She heard Bolin shout after her, “Make good choices!”


	3. Reunions

The arena’s lobby was filled with people. Spectators leaving, ring crew and officers heading home for the night, and someone important must have been there, because Max could see what looked like a police escort around a limo Satomobile. Scanning the crowd, Max looked for a head of blue hair, or at least for someone who looked vaguely like the Chloe she remembered.

After a few minutes of searching, Max was getting nervous.  _ What if she already left? _ Max thought to herself,  _ What if she doesn’t want to see me at all? _

Suddenly, one of the hall’s VIP doors opened, and she saw a tall man in glasses in a suit step out with the Mantis Wolves’ earthbender, Nathan, Max remembered, in tow. Looking at them both, she could see the similarities between them. Roughly the same color hair, same rough and sharp jawline, and definitely the same ‘I’m displeased with everything’ scowl on their faces. That man must have been Nathan’s father or uncle or something.

Then Max noticed her, the blue messy bob highlighting her presence, Chloe was right behind them. Max quickly swallowed her fear and ran down the staircase to catch them, doing her best to squeeze by the guests to get past them.

She made it to where they had just been and looked around again, they were headed outside, making a direct line to the limo parked on the street. Max took off in their direction.

“Chloe!” She yelled when she got close. Max saw her turn around right before a wall of a human being stepped in front of her, putting himself between the two of them. Max ran into him and bounced off his muscular frame. “Hey!”

The man, a bodyguard probably, looked down at Max with contempt. He had traditional water tribe tattoos totally covering his right arm, with another one placed directly under his eye. “No reporters, autographs, or questions allowed, kid.” He spoke in a gruff voice, “Beat it.”

Max tried to just walk around him, but he shoved her back. “Stop,” she pleaded, “ I just need to talk to Chloe!”

The bodyguard blocked her again, this time grabbing a fistful of her shirt to swing her around. “ I said beat it, little girl, you’re not doing anything—”

“Oh let her go,” The tall business looking man in the glasses interjected, prompting both of them to look at him. “It’s fine, she just wants to talk to the girl. We’re leaving and I would much rather be at home.”

The tattooed guard let go of Max with a huff, and moved aside, letting her see Chloe again, who was looking at back at her.

The business man spoke again, “However, Chloe,” the blue-haired fighter turned to face him, “Do remember not to be late for our meeting, the day after tomorrow in my office. And do not forget your assignment either, of course.” 

Chloe nodded, and with that, the man walked off, Nathan and bodyguard walking behind him, both sneering.

The other girl who was with him however, their team’s waterbender, turned to Max energetically and gave her a big hug that the brunette was not expecting. “‘I’m such a fan of your bending!” The girl stated excitedly, “You’re so deliberate and fluid and I had to study you for sooo long to understand how you did it. I still don’t get it. … Bye-bye now!” Just as quickly as she arrived, she was gone, running outside to catch up. Max just watched her go in a bit of shock.

“That’s Kairi. Don’t mind her, the only thing she’s carrying in her head is hot air, fighting skills, and a need to hug everyone she sees, apparently.” Chloe’s voice came from behind Max, who turned to face her. She recognized it immediately, despite not having not heard it for so long.

Despite the crowd, silence seemed to fall in the air around them. Max bit the inside of her mouth, trying to figure out what to say.

“Maxine,” Chloe started.

“Where have you been?” Max asked as soon as she could.

“Really? That’s what you’re gonna start with?” Chloe made a snorting sound, “No ‘How have you been’ or ‘I missed you so much oh my dog’? None of that?”

“I missed you Chloe.” The waterbender looked up at the other girl, who really was a full grown woman now. “I just… wanted to know what happened to you because I haven’t seen you and—”

“Why do you care?” She interrupted her, flipping her hair back, “You never came back to visit, you never sent a message It’s been five years, Max, why would you care?”

“Because I care about you!” Max nearly yelled, startling the firebender, “I know I never reached you but I wanted too! I just… I couldn’t just visit you, you were on the other side of the world, and my father… well, the pay at his first job here wasn’t as good as he thought it would be. We had to scrape by for a while, which meant I couldn't reach you even if I tried. It got better after he switched to a new company, but I just…” Max took a breath “It was so long ago and so far away and I didn’t even know if you wanted to hear from me anymore, so I just stopped, and I’m sorry for that.” She felt a wetness start to pool in her eyes, “I’m sorry for that, I do care about you Chloe and dog I missed you. Please.”

Chloe stood there for a moment, seemingly taking it in. The quiet fell upon the two of them again.

Eventually, Chloe sighed. “You’re right, I’m sorry. I shouldn't’ really be mad at you.” She put a hand on the smaller girl’s shoulder. “I missed you a lot, and I wanna get to know you again, okay? I just… I have a lot going on right now, but it’s really good to see you, Max. You’ve grown a hella lot.” 

Max let out a light chuckle, “You too, captain.”

The firebender raised an eyebrow “Still captain, eh? I thought I’d be promoted to admiral by now.”

“Pirates don’t have admiral’s dummy,” she laughed, the two of them already falling back into their old ways, “You’re the captain and you own the ship, can’t get any better than that.”

Chloe gave her a light shove, “Dork,” She snickered. “Listen, I can’t really talk a lot now, I gotta get a few things done, but we should talk tomorrow, okay? There’s a tea stand in the park across from the Prescott Docks, can we meet there tomorrow for lunch around noon?”

Max nodded and smiled, “Of course, I’ll be there.” She stuck her hand out and Chloe shook it. Max noticed it was much warmer than she remembered.

“It’s good to see you, Max.”

“You too.”

Chloe stumbled a bit before giving the brunette a pat on the shoulder and turning towards the exit. Max watched her go and let out a breath. The woman had changed a lot, probably in more ways than she knew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was that bodyguard the bouncer from episode one of Before the Storm? Maybe, maybe not, I’m not telling.


End file.
